Vacation lessons...

We spent ten days traveling through Montana and the Canadian Rockies for our summer vacation. We had a great time together, saw some amazing things, and ate some wonderful food.  Here are a few of the lessons I learned along the way.  .

1. Planning is good, but be willing to change the plan if the occasion arises.  We are gatherers... I like knowing what opportunities are available, and once I have a good feel for what there is to do, I quit looking and make a plan. My spouse just keeps looking.  But eventually, we have to just go.  All in all, we did pretty well. We had some pretty fun things planned, and when necessary, we tweaked the plan to fill in the gaps to naturally occurred. Just in case you were wondering, yes to the Banff Gondola and Columbia Icefield Experience, yes to Johnston Canyon hike and Athabasca Falls, and you must at least do the short hike at Mount Edith Clavell in Jasper National Park.

2. Vacationing with your father-in-law can be fun.  Shawn's dad came to spend a few days with us at home before we left, but we were really excited that he could come with us on the trip.  He is such a good traveler, and offers another perspective on the things we see and do. I can honestly say the only thing we might have done differently is eat a few spicier meals and maybe some sushi. Otherwise, he helped make the trip even better than it would have been with just the two of us. Sometimes it's good to have a buffer or a person to be the tiebreaker when it was time to pick something to do or someplace to eat.

3. Making a vacation budget made it all a lot less stressful.  When we lived in Germany, we took lots of opportunities to travel.  It gave us a lot of practice in getting away and getting a lot done. As we did our research, we developed a reasonable expectation for what our hotel expenses would be, estimated our entrance fees for the things we wanted to do, and factored in food costs.  On this trip we kept our food costs down by eating hotel breakfasts when offered, taking a bag full of snacks with us, and making several trips to the grocery store along the way for water and picnic lunches.  Even with gas at over $5 per gallon, we were able to come in way under our budget.

4. Sometimes a cheap hotel is cheap for a reason.  No matter how many places you check, the "perfect" hotel may not be what you expect.  I booked all of our hotels online and eight of the nine nights were great - a couple close to perfect, in fact.  But there was one that wasn't exactly what we expected.  The good news is that we all decided to make the best of it... and be happy that it was the last night before going home.  I'm not going to "out" the hotel, but if you're planning to go to Radium Hot Springs in Canada, give me a call.

5.  Conversely, a storefront restaurant could give you the best meal of your trip.  Helena's Stube in Radium Hot Springs... authentic Austrian food and the best Wiener Schnitzel since we traveled to Germany last year.  So here's the tip: Ask a local for their recommendation... that usually sends you in the right direction.  (I should have taken a picture of my beautiful plate... trust me, it was absolutely delicious.)

We've been home for a little over a week and are fully immersed in our normal, everyday lives.  But the peace and joy lingers... and that's when you know it was all worth it.

Peace, Deb

PS - How was your vacation?